Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Additional Plants: native plants

• Ecosystem: Ecosystem

• Natural Areas: other, wildlife

• Pollinators: habitat, other

Target Pests

Practices

• Pest Management: flame, habitat modification, mechanical control, modeling, monitoring/scouting, pesticide application timing, pesticide resistance management, pesticides, plant growth regulators, precision pesticide use, prevention, weed ecology

• Crop Production: pollination/pollinator health/habitat

• Natural Resources/Environment: biodiversity, soil stabilization, wildlife

• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures

Despite being irreplaceable to agriculture and ecosystems, pollinator populations are declining at alarming rates globally. Threats to pollinators include pesticide exposure, habitat loss, climate change, intensive land management practices, and invasive species. Due to intensive agricultural and urban development, the North Central region has experienced some of the most significant losses in pollinator habitat over the last several decades. Habitat restoration and enhancement in the North Central region are crucial to preventing further losses of monarch butterflies and numerous other pollinator species, including bumble bees, moths, and bats.  

The scale of conservation required to address pollinator population declines demands an unprecedented level of coordination across industry sectors, geographies, public and private organizations, and government agencies. The Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group (Working Group), facilitated by the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), is one such effort that engages over 400 organizations affiliated with energy and transportation sectors, conservation, agriculture, academia, and government across the U.S. and Canada. The Working Group has become a leading resource for owners and managers of utility corridors, highways, and railroads, oftentimes referred to as rights-of-way (ROW), who are interested in increasing pollinator-oriented habitat conservation and adopting integrated vegetation management (IVM) practices.  

Over the past year, UIC has been working to update the Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP) for ROW and has been collecting and analyzing data on IVM practices. Working Group participants have contributed data on commonly used practices for habitat establishment, invasive species control, herbicide best-practices, and the efficacy of management activities. UIC will aggregate the data, upload it into the IPM Database, and assemble it into written guidelines for at least one PMSP for ROWs. These data and written guidelines will be used to set meaningful research, regulatory, and educational priorities for IPM practitioners and regulators. 

Over the past three years, UIC has hosted webinars on a variety of topics related to IVM, pollinators, and other conservation-focused initiatives to disseminate research and best management practices to industry practitioners. UIC proposes to continue hosting at least three webinars in 2024 that will emphasize the importance of managing noxious and invasive species, as well sharing the impact IVM can have on pollinator habitat and populations. Webinars will focus on specific regions and species to ensure adequate time and information is given for each topic. 

Finally, UIC will create a new open-access webpage dedicated to IPM on ROWs, which will allow users to learn about the PSMP, view the ROW pest management database, and access additional resources. UIC will also create a feedback solicitation form for partners to submit findings and commentary on herbicide labels and uses. Data collected from this form will be shared with the regulators making decisions on herbicide use and labeling. 

Managing ROW easements for habitat is an invaluable strategy for pollinator conservation due to their potential to host high levels of biodiversity and provide connectivity between fragmented natural areas. Through cross-sector collaboration, the Working Group is advancing research and adoption of conservation-focused management to ensure pollinators populations remain viable for future generations. 

1. To update of the Pest Management Strategic Plan for rights-of-way 
2. To engage Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group members in pollinator-focused IVM practices 
3. To increase knowledge sharing on IVM between ROW land managers and the Environmental Protection Agency